This week I made my final observation at CMS. I found that nearly all of Kyle's procedures remained consistent from one week to the next -- the women arrived, and joined the men in rehearsing, they then warmed-up when the men left, and rehearsed more. In general, Kyle's classroom management techniques were subtle. I imagine that his style would change in a setting with more disruptions, however these students seem to want to make music more than anything else. Which is wonderful!
Kyle pulled Jenna and I up to the front of the room while they did a run through of a song. He told the women that we were their audience, and they should treat it as a performance. Then, he told us that we should have a few critiques when they were done singing.
Critiquing is in some ways very easy for me, and in others, extremely difficult. Listening to them sing, I thought of many things I might comment on, but a good deal of those things were specific and nitpicky. Finding a cohesive element, to make the sound overall better is much more difficult. I also found there were moments when I could say, "now that wasn't quite right", but I had no idea what made it that way. Most challenging for me as a critic, is finding something positive to say. Not because they weren't wonderful, but because I think all comments should be specific and have meaning. Saying, "that was good", is a cop-out. And sometimes, I get very caught up in listening for things to improve, and forget to note what is already wonderful.
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